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The easiest way to write an Alien Invasion is to make the invaders nigh unstoppable by giving them technology and weapons we can't even comprehend, defend against or overpower. If they were just like a human army, it might as well be a war story; there must be something about the aliens that makes them distinct from any other army. But the heroes and humanity can't just be dispassionately crushed under a cosmic steamroller, because a Cosmic Horror Story would be a box office dud due to the bleak narrative and Downer Ending. Besides, who would want to read that kind of story?

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  • Easily-Thwarted Alien Invasion
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  • The easiest way to write an Alien Invasion is to make the invaders nigh unstoppable by giving them technology and weapons we can't even comprehend, defend against or overpower. If they were just like a human army, it might as well be a war story; there must be something about the aliens that makes them distinct from any other army. But the heroes and humanity can't just be dispassionately crushed under a cosmic steamroller, because a Cosmic Horror Story would be a box office dud due to the bleak narrative and Downer Ending. Besides, who would want to read that kind of story?
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  • The easiest way to write an Alien Invasion is to make the invaders nigh unstoppable by giving them technology and weapons we can't even comprehend, defend against or overpower. If they were just like a human army, it might as well be a war story; there must be something about the aliens that makes them distinct from any other army. But the heroes and humanity can't just be dispassionately crushed under a cosmic steamroller, because a Cosmic Horror Story would be a box office dud due to the bleak narrative and Downer Ending. Besides, who would want to read that kind of story? So what authors do is craft an Easily Thwarted Alien Invasion. To compensate for the aliens' unstoppable power they build in a glaring and common weakness that the heroes and humanity can use to beat back this alien menace once it's identified. This doesn't just apply to armies, but can be done for individual aliens and non-sentient alien monsters. Maybe their skin is tough enough to stop bullets, or they're telepathic, or they have mind-control powers, or they have some sort of martial society and cannot comprehend "mercy", "surrender" or "peaceful coexistence". Whatever their advantage or power, it's always balanced by a vulnerability to an over the counter product. And sometimes, that Achilles Heel is so serious that the humans don't even have to figure it out -- the planet takes care of them without any help from us at all. The flora and fauna will make them all die naturally without human intervention, be it from the common cold or water or daffodils. Sometimes, the aliens don't even know it's a weakness (or can't conceive of it as one) until they begin dropping like flies from it. This can extend to making the cleanup after the invasion a snap. By handing humanity victory on a silver platter and having an epilogue where the characters happily explain how easy it was to destroy the aliens and return to life as if nothing had happened. Grimmer portrayals will give humanity one chance to exploit the weakness after they devastate the planet, making the victory a Bittersweet Ending. This trope can sometimes be justified if the "alien invasion" is actually only carried out by a few individuals, especially if they're completely ignorant about Earth, as is the case in many old Science Fiction movies. Compare Rock Beats Laser. See also Weaksauce Weakness and How to Invade An Alien Planet. Examples of Easily-Thwarted Alien Invasion include:
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